Part 5: Children of Magazine Street

(Click Pictures to Enlarge Each) 

    The Dixon children: Anath, Luke, Relyea and Lois were enrolled in school at Magazine Street.
   Aunt Lois recalls that her favorite subject was science and she enjoyed reading, but not math. She also remembered daily Bible study classes and events such as Missionaries that would visit and talk about their journeys.
   She appreciated the love and care shown by teachers such as Ms. Grace Custard, Ms. Zeola Bell Germany, and Ms. Katherine Takecare and others.        



 In this picture from the school, you can see my cousin, Kevin Dixon, Anath's son, in the plaid shirt.

   Aunt Lois remembers Ms. Emma Minnis as an excellent private piano teacher of the Dixon youngsters, their grandchildren and many other area children. Ms. Minnis discovered my Aunt’s ability to sing, gave her voice lessons through high school and encouraged her to continue voice lessons in college.

   Ms. Minnis encouraged and followed the careers of her students.
   As seen in this picture, she attended the Dental School graduation of Anath Dixon, the fourth of the five Dixon children.

   All of the Dixon children benefited from their Christian education as they went on to serve others.  Aunt Lois points out that, “Jesus is our example in life; therefore, being others oriented is our purpose.”
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  With the importance of keeping Jesus first, and with His help, they learned how to identify their strengths, develop them and overcome their weaknesses.
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 Here we see a picture of the Dixon children as young adults, when they were featured in the 1970 anniversary booklet for Magazine Street.
    I’ll conclude with quick bios of the Dixon children to illustrate how their early Christian education, coupled with musical training from Ms. Minnis, resonated throughout their lives of service to others.

   Lucian Meek Dixon, known to the family as Dickie, was born in Accra, the capital of Ghana.
   He joined the U.S. Navy after graduating from High School in Louisville. Upon his honorable discharge, he attended and graduated from Ohio University with a Fine Arts degree.








    Uncle Dickie owned a photography business, which took photos for weddings, bar mitzvahs, church events and newspapers, such as the Call & Post in Cleveland.
   He was also a talented musician who played flute and piccolo for the Cleveland Letter Band, and the 122nd Army Band of the Ohio National Guard.
   He retired from Cleveland State University and was survived by Marjorie, his loving wife of 37 years and his step-son.

     Relyea Meek Dixon, known as “Meekie”
was a research biochemist.
  He met his wife of 40 years, Dr. Marguerite Anderson, at Emmanuel Missionary College, now Andrews University. Their union produced two children.

    Uncle Meek served in the Army and after his honorable discharge, he completed both a BA and BS degree at Roosevelt University and attended graduate school at Illinois Institute of Technology.  He spent his distinguished professional life as a Biochemist in the Chicago area.
   He was a dedicated servant of God who served as a Sabbath School teacher, Superintendent, Deacon, Elder and Treasurer at Morgan Park Seventh-day Adventist Church in Chicago.
   Uncle Meek, played the violin, and like his siblings, was a master pianist, who composed love songs for his lovely wife.

    My father, Dr. Gardner Luke Dixon, who was given his father’s first name, was a man of many skills, and talents.  He was a dedicated father, physician, accomplished musician, master bridge player, author, pilot, and student of several languages. He also had a love for golf, tennis, basketball, and volleyball.
    In 1950, dad graduated Valedictorian, from Central High School, here in Louisville and from the University of Louisville in 1954.

  In 1958, he received his doctor of medicine degree from Loma Linda University, married Sheila Ramsey and they later had a daughter and two sons. They were married for over 12 years. Sheila died on July 18, 2016.
     He was blessed with another daughter with Sherry Sales, his companion until his death.
   During the Vietnam War, he served in the U.S. Navy as a ship physician. He learned to fly before joining the Navy, and became instrument rated, which is a higher level of pilot’s license that permitted him to fly in any kind of weather. He went on to own two private planes.
   Dad operated a medical practice in Nashville, TN and there were times when he would use his planes to fly-in patients from different cities, for treatment at no cost. Dad taught me how to fly and you can see my picture, from the Tennessean newspaper, from an article about me as young pilot.
    My father performed house calls until he himself became ill, often receiving food for payment, or receiving no payment at all.
   Dad served as the Minister of Music, pianist, and soloist at Riverside Chapel Seventh-day Adventist Church in Tennessee.  He started the “Messiah Choir,” a church based choir, which he directed for over 20 years, and served as director of the Nashville Messiah City-Wide Choir.

   Dr. Anath Meek Dixon, was named after “Anath,” the Father of Shamgar from the book of Judges in the Bible: (Judges 3:31; Judges 5:6).
  Uncle Anath graduated from Louisville’s Central High School.  He received a B.A. degree from Bellarmine University. He met the love of his life, Marilyn Holder, while playing piano and organ at her church.

   They were married for 56 years until his death. Their union produced five children: two boys, two girls and one son, deceased.
  Anath earned a Doctor of Dental surgery degree from Meharry Medical College, and had a successful career as a well respected dentist in Shaker Heights, Ohio.
  Like his brother Luke, Anath loved to fly and owned a Cesna 152 airplane.  A sports enthusiast, he played tennis, ping pong, and golf tournaments throughout the U.S.

      My Aunt Lois Dixon McGaddye, whose first name is Edessa, after her mother, is the youngest and the only surviving member of the Dixon family.
       She was married to Dr. James Clifford McGaddye, a dentist, for 54 years. They met at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. From this marriage came one son and identical twin daughters. Uncle Jim died on February 13, 2014.
        Aunt Lois received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Washington Adventist University, then Columbia Union College.
        She has had a distinguished nursing career in Public Health, Private duty, College Health and in Psychiatric nursing with the Department of Veteran Affairs.  She earned one of the Department's top honors, the "Super Nurse Award.”

     My Aunt was blessed with my grandfather's ability to sing. She used her soprano voice as a soloist in high school and college. Her children proudly recall their mother singing for many weddings through the years.
      She was also the pianist in Seventh-day Adventist churches in Washington, D.C., Maryland and New Jersey.
    Aunt Lois now resides in North Carolina near her twins.

    She states, “I am blessed to have so many fond memories of my four brothers—especially Luke and Anath, who were closer to my age. They taught me to play marbles, croquet, tennis, ping pong and basketball.
Every Sunday morning, I would walk between them to Mrs. Minnis’ house for piano and voice lessons.  We had a healthy competition in learning to play the piano.
 As we got older, I enjoyed flying with them as they served as the pilot.
   Anath built my very first computer, sent it to me by mail and gave me lessons by phone.
    Although they lovingly teased me, I always felt secure in their unconditional love all of my life.
    It is indeed a great challenge to be the only one remaining. Like my parents, my faith in God and resiliency keep me going.”

   In closing, Aunt Lois sends her regards and thanks you again for this opportunity to share how her family was blessed by the Christian education they received from this school.